The United States cheered on a military uprising against President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday as it revealed that it knew that three senior leaders were…
The United States cheered on a military uprising against President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday as it revealed that it knew that three senior leaders were plotting to oust the leftist leader.
President Donald Trump tweeted that the United States « stands with the People of Venezuela and their Freedom! » as his administration threw full support behind a revolt that Maduro denounced as a coup attempt.
Amid signs that Maduro remained in charge, Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, publicly named three officials who, he said, the Venezuelan opposition knew had « committed to support ousting Maduro. »
« And it is time for them now, if the Cubans will let them do it, to fulfill their commitments and it is time for the rest of the military to show what their own families believe ought to happen — and that is Maduro needs to go, » Bolton told reporters at the White House.
Bolton named the trio as Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, Supreme Court Chief Justice Maikel Moreno and presidential guard commander Ivan Hernandez Dala — all previously seen as Maduro loyalists.
« This has been building for a long time. If this effort fails they will sink into a dictatorship from which they’re very few possible alternatives. It is a very delicate moment, » he said.
Bolton blamed their apparent failure on Cuba, Maduro’s ally, which he said had up to 25,000 troops in Venezuela.
Trump later tweeted a threat to impose a « full and complete embargo » on Cuba, which is already heavily sanctioned by the United States, unless it ends military support in Venezuela.
